Goshen’s many parks are brimming with fun and fitness opportunities. Ox Bow Park includes volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, playgrounds, a bike trail, athletic fields, and an 18-hole disc golf course. During the wintertime, it has trails for cross-country skiing and two sledding hills. During our windy Indiana springs, don’t miss the high-flying kites above the park and their determined pilots on the ground! Ox Bow is also home to educational programs in which children can learn about wildlife, animal habitats, wetlands, and much more. The 14-acre Pringle Park includes sandlots for volleyball and soccer fields. Pringle Park also features a crushed-stone perimeter path ideal for walking, running, and bicycling. Named for the Maple City’s last mayor, Allan J. Kauffman Park includes an interactive art and music play area, a hill slide, lookout towers, open play spaces, a climbing wall, and trails. In 2015, the Indiana Park and Recreation Association honored the park with its award for exceptional park design.

There’s riding a bike, and then there’s riding a bike with pizzazz. Kids can do exactly that – and enjoy some exercise at the same time – during Get Up and GOshen. Sponsored by Goshen Health, Get Up and GOshen takes place every June at Shanklin Park. It features a bike ride, as well as a bicycle obstacle course that makes cycling fun AND challenging! The event also includes games, interactive learning stations, and other activities.

Goshen students also learn sports fundamentals through Goshen Community Schools’ elementary sports programs, and they learn from great teachers. In addition to paid coaches, the program utilizes community volunteers and high school- through college-aged athletes. Almost every high school sport has an elementary coordinator, except for sports that have a well-established community youth program, such as Little League baseball and softball.